Automatic record player



April 16, 1968 J. FOUFOUNIS 3,378,264

AUTOMATIC RECORD PLAYER Filed Jan. 10, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 1968J. FOUFOUNIS 3,378,264

AUTOMATIC RECORD PLAYER Filed Jan. 10, 1967 4 Sheats-$heet April 16,1968 J. FOUFOUNlS 3,378,264

AUTOMATIC RECORD PLAYER Filed Jan. 10, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet April 16,1968 J. FOUFOUNIS 3,378,264

AUTOMATIC RECORD PLAYER Filed Jan. 10, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 d d M 10 IF i) PIC-3.3

8b 2 1| 1 v I v I 31a 2 28d 28C 29 3 29 United States Patent 3,378,264AUTOMATIC REEORD PLAYER Jean Foufounis, 27h Chemin du Cherie, Renens,Switzerland Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 330,350, Dec.13, 1963. This application Jan. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 613,717 Claimspriority, application Switzerland, Dec. 13, 1962, 14,618/62 37 Claims.(Cl. 274--10) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Automatic record player where arecord magazine is moved relative to a record playing device by apredetermined amount corresponding to a selected record. A record islifted to playing position and a pickup head is shifted into operation.Control is accomplished by operating two superposed rows of keyscooperating with feeler levers. A pivotal rack, that has parallelstraight portions connected by two curved portions, cooperates with adriving pinion to relatively position the magazine and the player.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my previous applicationSer. No. 330,350, filed Dec. 13, 1963, now abandoned.

By way of example, the accompanying drawings illustrate a preferredembodiment of the invention. In said drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a lateral elevational, partly sectional view;

FIGURE la is a view of a detail of FIGURE 1 on a larger scale;

IGURE 2 is a plan view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section through line III-III of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-section through IV-IV of FIG- URE l on a largerscale;

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view of a modification.

The record player illustrated is secured to a lower carrier plate 1carried by the bottom 2 of a carrying case, partly illustrated, whichallows an easy transportation of the record player.

The claimed record player includes a carriage 3 forming a support forthe pickup means and resting on said bottom plate by means of a pair ofrollers 4 resting directly on the bottom plate and of a pair of rollers5 resting on an angle bar 6 rigid with said bottom plate. Two horizontalrollers '7 run along the inner surfaces of an upwardly U-shaped member 8secured to bottom plate 1 parallel with angle bar 6 so as to ensure theguiding of carriage 3 during its travel in a direction perpendicular tothe plane of FIGURE 1. r

The left-hand end of carrier plate 1 is furthermore folded back parallelwith angle bar 6 so as to form with the latter a housing for removablemagazine 9 adapted to carry a number of records at and includingtwoterminal flanges, of which one is shown in FIGURE 1, said flangesbeing interconnected by cross-members 9a and 9b between which a seriesof bent transverse members extends so as to hold the records vertically.

The folded section 1a of the carrier plate 1 is provided with twosuperimposed rows of ports 1b, 10, each pair of cooperating portsregistering with one of the records on and lying in coaxial relationshipwith corresponding ports 61;, 60 formed in angle bar 6.

In alined ports 11) and 6b and in alined ports 10 and 6c, correspondingto the location of each record in the magazine, are slidably fitted rods11 and 12, the lefthand end of each of which carries a head 13 (FIGURES1 and 2) through which the corresponding rod may be ice grasped by theoperators fingers so as to be shifted out of the position illustrated insolid lines: into the position illustrated in dot-and-dash lines andinversely. The rods 11 and 12 form a memory for the record player andtheir total number is equal to twice the number of records adapted to befitted between bent transverse members 10. As a matter of fact, when arod 11 is urged inwardly, the record player selects the correspondingrecord and plays only its front surface whereas when a rod 12 isdepressed, the record player will play the other surface of said record,as will be disclosed hereinafter.

The carriage 3 carries motor 14 adapted to drive said carriage acrossthe record magazine to control the removal of the selected record bylever 15 and to shift said record into registry with the reading head16a carried by adouble pickup arm 16 rockably secured to the carriage 3.

The drive of said carriage is effected in the case illustrated by meansof an endless rack 17 meshing with pinion 18. The slightly transverselyshiftable rack 17 includes two rectilinear sections parallel withU-s-haped member 8 and interconnected by semi-circular sections, saidrack being pivotally secured at 17a through lug 17b to lug 1d projectingabove carrier plate 1, in a manner such as to have a rocking movement ina vertical plane. In its medial part, between the rectilinear sections,rack 17 is provided With a longitudinal rib 17c adapted to hold the rackin contacting relationship with the pinion through out the movement ofthe latter.

The operation of said arrangement will be readily understood since, whenthe pinion 18 is caused to rotate, it moves first in a predetermineddirection over one of the rectilinear sections of the rack, for instancethe lefthand section, the rack being then shifted into the righthandposition.

When pinion 18 engages the incurved section of the rack connecting theleft-hand rectilinear section over which the pinion has alreadytravelled with the right-hand section, rack 17 rocks throughout themovement of the pinion over last-mentioned right-hand rectilinearsection of the rack. The carriage 3 thus makes a simple reciprocatingmovement perpendicular to the plane of FIGURE 1 and moves in apredetermined direction when the pinion meshes with the left-handsection of the rack and in the opposite direction when said pinionmeshes with the righthand section.

The pinion 18 is secured to the lower end of vertical shaft 19rcvolvably carried inside a sleeve 20 rigidly secured to the carriageand the upper end of which shaft carries toothed wheel 21 meshing withtwo bevelled planet pinions 22a and 22b which mesh also with a secondtoothed Wheel 23 coaxial with the toothed wheel 21.

The bevelled planet pinions 22a and 22b are rotatably carried on twospindles (not illustrated) and extend radially with reference to thevertical shaft 19 being secured to a support 24a rotatably fitted roundthe sleeve 211', said spindles entering two corresponding openingsformed in toothed plate 25 rigid with said support 24a. The toothedplate 2.4 meshes with a worm 25 adapted to be operatively connected withthe motor 14 as will be described hereinafter.

The toothed wheel 23 is cut in the upper surface of a disc-shaped cam 26fitted loosely round the sleeve 20, the edge of which is provided with anotch at 26a. The lower surface of said cam is furthermore provided withgroove 27 including two semi-circular sections 27a, 2711 the former ofwhich extends coaxially With the cam over while the second section whichhas a larger radius interconnects the two ends of the section 27a.

Notch 26a lying on the axis of symmetry of groove 27a-27b is adapted tobe engaged by a projection 28a 3 secured to the end of a bar 28 andadapted to lock cam 26 in the angular position illustrated in FIGURE 2.

The opposite end of bar 28 is provided with nose 28b adapted to engageone of the ports 6a (FIGURE 3) provided in the angle bar 6 in verticalregistry with each above-mentioned pair of openings 6b, 6c. Theengagement of nose 28b in port 6a produces a locking of carriage 3 in apredetermined position corresponding as will be disclosed hereinafter tothe position of the selected record in the record magazine whichposition is defined through depression of one of rods 11 and 12 or eventhrough the simultaneous depression of both rods corresponding to agiven record.

The bar 28 is thus applied to be shifted between two extreme positionsof which one corresponds to the locking of cam 26 against rotation andthe other to a locking of carriage 3 against movement relative to therecord.

When bar 28 prevents the carriage from moving (that is when the shaft 19is locked and the worm drives the toothed plate 24) planet wheels 22a,22b merely move round the stationary wheel 21 and drive into rotationcam 26 through the agency of toothed wheel 23 rigid therewith.

When on the contrary, cam 26 is locked by bar 28 and carriage 3 is free,planet wheels 22a, 22b move round toothed wheel 23 and drive toothedwheel 21 and thereby the pinion 18 through the agency of the shaft 19 sothat carriage 3 moves now in a direction perpendicular to the plane ofFIGURE 1.

As illustrated in FIGURES l and 4, bar 28 consists of a smallrectangular plate provided in its left-hand section with gate 280 andadapted to slide underneath carriage 3 with the interposition of fourrollers 29 revolvably carried by said carriage. Two springs 30a, 30burge bar 28 towards the lefthand side of FIGURES 1 and 2 so as to makenose 28b engage one of the ports 6a or else to urge said nose againstangle bar 6 when it registers with a point between two ports 6a. The bar28 is provided furthermore with two lugs 28d between which is slidinglyfitted a rod 31 while a spring 32 stretched between lug 28d on theright-hand side of gate 280 and stop 31a rigid with rod 31 urges saidrod towards the left-hand side of FIGURES 1 and 2. The stress exerted bysaid spring is greater than that exerted on bar 28 by two springs 30aand 30b.

Therefore, if the movement of rod 31 towards the lefthand side of thedrawing is prevented, for instance, by means of a stop engaging itsleft-hand end springs 30a and 30b can in no case draw bar 28 towards theleft because spring 32 prevents such movement. When, on the contrary,rod 31 is not locked in position axially, springs 30a, 30b can shift bar28 towards the right since spring 32 can no longer act.

The cam 26 is adapted to control the movements of two sliders 33, 34,lying on either side of said cam by a relative shifting of 180, slider33 engaging cam groove 27 through stud 33a engaging section 27b of saidgroove (FIGURE 1) while slider 34 engages, through stud 34a, section 27aof groove 27. Reference character 33b designates a slot cut in slider 33and forming a guide for projection 28a terminating bar 28. The slider 33is adapted to move between guiding pins 33c and slider 34 betweenguiding pins 34b.

To slider 33 are secured two parallel depending lugs 35a, 35b (FIGURE 3)projecting through gate 280 in bar 28 (FIGURE 4). Between said lugs andpivotally secured thereto there are provided two horizontal superposedlevers 36, 37 of which the former (36) is subjected to the action ofspring 38 (FIGURE 1), urging it in an anti-clockwise direction whilesecond lever 37 is subjected to the action of rod 39 elastically slidinginside tube 40 secured vertically to slider 33, the upper end of rod 39being flush with the surface of said slider as long as lever 37 remainsin a horizontal position, while it projects beyond said surface as soonas lever 37 begin rocking in 4 an anti-clockwise direction, as seen inFIGURE 1. During its clockwise angular movement under the action of theelastically mounted rod 39, lever 37 engages stop 37d.

The levers 36, 37 lie at the same level as rods 11, 12 respectively.Furthermore, when said rods are entirely urged home into the positionsillustrated in dot-and-dash lines their ends lie in registry wtih thelefthand ends of the levers 36, 37 which form feelers. As a matter offact, the extreme left-hand end of each lever 36 or 37 forms a dihedron(FIGURE 3) of which the ridge extends substantially at the same level asthe axes of corresponding rods 11 or 12. The dihedron terminating thelever 36 is arranged in a manner such that when said lever impingesagainst rod 11 upon shifting of carriage 3 toward the left, said rodcauses lever 36 to rock clockwise as shown in FIGURE 1 whereas, in thecase of lever 37 the dihedral feeler of which faces upwardly towards thedihedron terminating the lever 36, the engagement of rod 12 produces arocking of the lever in an anti-clockwise direction. The levers 36, 37are provided also with corresponding stops 36a, 37a (FIGURE 1) adaptedto urge rods 11, 12 back out of their positions shown in dot-and-dashlines into their solid line position upon shifting of slider 33 when thecorresponding record has been removed out of its magazine.

The levers 36, 37 are furthermore kinematically connected with eachother through noses 36b, 37b projecting beyond the cooperating surfacesof said levers at the same level as their pivotal connections with lugs35a, 35b, nose 37b being longer than nose 36b. Any counterclockwiserocking movement of lever 36 under the action of spring 38 is thustransmitted through nose 36b to lever 37 which latter lever executesthen a clockwise rocking movement towards its stop 37d. In a similarmanner, any counterclockwise rocking of lever 37 is directly transmittedthrough the noses 37b and 36b to lever 36 which is shifted angularly, inthe clockwise direction, but in contradistinction any rocking in theclockwise direction of lever 36 has no effect on lever 37 which remainsin contact with its stop 37d under the action of elastically mounted rod39.

The right-hand end of lever 36 slopes upwardly to a slight extent andforms a stop for the previously described rod 31 as long as said lever36 remains in its horizontal position; this means that bar 28 remains inthe position illustrated in FIGURE 1 for which it locks the cam 26, aslong as the lever 36 does not meet any rod 11 and is rocked thereby in aclockwise direction. In contradistinction as soon as the lever 36 hasslightly rocked through contact between its dihedron and a rod 11, thebar 28 which is no longer locked by its rod 31 is driven towards theleft-hand side of FIGURES 1 and 2 by springs 30a, 30b in a manner suchthat its nose 28b comes into contact with angle bar 6 and engagesopening 6a, lying above the rod 11, which has produced the rocking oflever 36. As described, carriage 3 is then held fast in a manner suchthat cam 26, which is no longer locked by the projection 28a, is adaptedto be driven into rotation by toothed plate 24.

The rotation of cam 26 produces a shifting towards the left-hand side ofslider 33 as long as stud 33a on said slider moves inside section 27b ongroove 27; shifting of st-ud 33a in the other section 27a of groove 27corresponds to the positioning of slider 33 at the extreme left-hand endof its stroke.

During its leftward movement, slider 33 controls thus the return of rod11 into its inoperative position through action of the stop 36a on lever36 on the end of said rod. The slider 33 controls also the removal ofthe selected record out of the magazine and the shifting of said recordonto the turntable which is not illustrated in the drawing and ispivotally secured to the support S drawn in dotand-dash lines. Therotation of the record is always ensured by motor 14 and belt 14/),tensioned between pulley 14a on the motor and a cooperating pulley 14cforming a flywheel controlling a speed reversal which is not illustratedand which is similar to that forming the object of the United StatesPatent 3,190,133, filed Apr. 8, 1963.

The driving means for a record carried by the support S may be identicalwith that disclosed in Swiss Patent No. 361,671, filed on Nov. 3, 1959,by the applicant and need not be described with any detail.

The left-hand side of slider 33 carries an upwardly directed fork 33dengaging a stud carried by the end of arm 15a rigid with lever 15pivotally secured to spindle 15b fitted between two lugs 150 secured tocarriage 3.

As illustrated, lever 15 adapted to shift the selected record out of themagazine and to bring it into the area adjacent the support S isconstituted by two arms of which the upper edge is provided with agroove inside which the edge of the selected record runs while it iscarried along from its solid line position into its dot-anddash lineposition.

When lower rod 12 is urged into the position illustrated in dot-and-dashlines, lever 37 is caused to rock under the action of said rod in acounter-clockwise direction and this rocking is transmitted to the lever36 which in its turn rocks under the action of the interengagementbetween noses 37b and 36b in a clockwise direction. The rod 31 is thusreleased and bar 28 is allowed to move towards the left-hand side ofFIGURES 1 and 2 under the action of its springs 30a, 30b as when lever36 is rocked directly. The leftward movement of the slider 33 controlledby the now released cam 2-6 produces a return of rod 12 into itsposition illustrated in solid lines under the action of stop 37a.

When lever 37 engages, through its feeler end, the lower section of therod 12, rod 39, fitted in the tube 40, projects above the surface ofslider 33 and locks laterally, through cooperation with a pin .0a, a lug41a guided between pairs of rollers 42 revolvably carried by thecarriage so that rod 41 may be shifted parallel to sliders 33, 34. Theright-hand end of rod 41 is rigid with a switching blade 43 engaging acontact piece 43a as long as said rod is in the position illustrated inFIGURE 2 and said switching blade is urged onto a second contact piece43b when the rod 41 has been shifted leftwards. The blade 43 andcontact-pieces 43a, 43b form the components of a reversing switchadapted to reverse the feed of motor 14 incorporating a double windingwhereby its direction of rotation is reversed. As a matter of fact, aslong as rod 41 is in said position illustrated in FIGURE 2, blade 43cooperates with contact-piece 43a and motor 14 ensures the rotation ofthe record carried by the support S in a predetermined direction, pickuparm 16 being then in contacting relationship with one surface of saidrecord. When, on the contrary, rod 12 is selected as described and theend of rod 39 projects above the surface of slider 33, rod 41 urgesblade 43 onto contact piece 43b. The reversal of the direction ofrotation of the record may also be obtained mechanically through thearrangement described in said U.S. Patent 3,190,133. The motor rotatesthen in a direction opposed to the previously described direction so asto allow the playing of the opposite side of the record.

Pickup arm 16 is duplicated and each elementary arm or time is providedwith a reading head 16a; the record is positioned on the support Sbetween the two tines of the pickup arm which engages either one side orthe opposite side of said record according as to whether a rod 11 or arod 12 has provided the release of cam 26. The pickup arm 16 isconnected with rod 41 through two elastic levers 44 engaging a pin 41bon rod 41 and secured to the lower end of a vertical rod 16b rev-olvablycarried in a support 45 secured to the carriage. Said rod 16b isprovided at its upper end with two lugs 160 between which pickup arm 16is held so that it may be caused to rock in a vertical plane.

To the lower end of rod 16b is secured a plate 46 provided in the medialsection of its longitudinal edges with two notches 46a extending abovethe slider 34 between two guiding studs 47. Said studs are adapted toprevent any rocking of pickup arm 1-6 round its axis 16b as long asslider 34 occupies the position illustrated in FIGURE 2; for whichposition the record is held between the pickup needles with a spacingwith reference thereto. When, on the contrary, slider 32 has beenshifted towards the left-hand side of FIGURE 2 by the cam 26, the twoguiding studs 47 engage a position facing notches 46a in plate 46 sothat the latter is adapted to be shifted laterally by a sufiicientamount for the tip of one of the pickup needles carried by thecorresponding tines 16 of pickup arm 16 to engage the record surfacefacing it, according to the position of rod 41 under the action of thetwin springs 44. Since the movements of sliders 33, 34 is first shiftedby the positioning of rod 41 and then it is released and urges the tipof the corresponding pickup needle against the record as soon as plate46 is released and allowed to rock.

It should also be mentioned that, in order to return the pickup arm intoits angular position corresponding to the beginning of the groove oneither side of the record, especially after the playing of each record,there is provided a rod 48 which is slidingly fitted in support 45 andengages through its upper end the lower surface of arm 16 whereas itslower end rests on -a slope 43a formed on slider 34. This arrangement isdesigned in a manner such that when a record has been played, that is,when the slider 34 has returned into the position illustrated in FIGURE2 by moving from the left-hand side to the righthand side, incline 48aurges the arm 16 upwardly up to the desired level; this being donehowever only after the plate 46 has been centered under the action ofthe studs 34b.

With the record player illustrated, it is possible to select both sidesof the same record and to listen to them without carriage 3 moving. Thetwo rods 11, 12 when urged inwardly provide a rocking of two levers 36,37 as disclosed but, since nose 37b is longer than nose 36b the slopeassumed by lever 36 is larger than that obtained in the case where onlya rod 11 is depressed. Said slope is such that the dihedron forming afeeler for lever 36 extends above the rod 11 whereby when the firstsurface of the record has been played and slider 33 has been shiftedtoward-s the left so as to shift rod 11 and 12 back only the rod 12 isshifted back by the stop 37a. The cam 26 executes therefore a firstrevolution round its axis which corresponds to the playing cycle of onesurface of the record after which, rod 31 not being locked axially bylever 36, a second revolution of the cam allows the playing of the othersurface of the record.

The claimed record player makes possible also playing again immediatelythe record carried by a predetermined record surface. The carrier plate1 carries, to this end, a cam 1f cooperating with a nose 37c provided onthe righthand side of lever 37, said cam projecting throughout thelength of a series of records and producing the rocking of lever 37 andconsequently of the lever 36 as soon as slider 33 has reached itsextreme left-hand position. Said rocking is furthermore such that theends of the levers 36, 37 extend above the level of the cooperating rods11, 12. whereby it is always possible to urge either of said rods backinwardly while the corresponding record is being played.

Once a record has been fed onto the support 8 by lever 15 the driver ofthe slider 33 controlling said lever 15 should he obviously cut out; inother words: the worm 25 must be stopped and this is allowed by a clutchsystem to be described hereinafter.

The worm 25- is provided with an axial recess inside which is slidinglyfitted a rod 50 while a spring 51 urges the latter downwardly asillustrated in FIGURE 2. The upper end of said rod 50 carries a plate50a provided with a pin Stlb slidingly engaging a radial slot in aflange 25a rigid with the worm 25. The upper end of the pin Sub extendsinto the path of an abutment 52a carried by a transmission pulley 52connected with motor 14 through belt 52b. The whole arrangement is suchthat when the rod 50 occupies the position illustrated in FIG- URE 2,the pulley 52 drives said rod and the worm 25 whereas when said rod 59is shifted downwardly under the action of the spring 51 the worm is nolonger driven.

The rod 50 is held in its clutch operated position by the arm 53a of arocking member 53 pivotally secured at 53b to a stationary part whileits other arm 53c engages, with the interposition of a roller 53 theedge of the cam 26 at a point diametrically opposed to the lockingprojection 26a.

When the cam 26 has executed one half revolution through 180 and itsnotch 26a registers with the roller on the arm 530 of the rockingmember, the latter rocks anti-clockwise by an amount suflicient for thepin 5% on the rod 50 to be no longer engaged by the abutment 52a. Saidpin is therefore no longer driven nor is the worm 25 so that the cam 26is angularly locked by the rocking member. At this moment the sliders33, 34 ccupy both their extreme positions on the left-hand side ofFIGURE 2 and the pickup arm 16 begins reading the selected record.

When the record has been played, that is when the pickup arm 16 is inits lowermost position, said arm engages, through its rear end, nose 54aon lever 54 pivotally secured to the carriage 3 so as to be capable ofturning in a vertical plane; arm 54]) of said lever is adapted toengage, through the notch formed in its lower edge, the end of aL-shaped lever 55 against the action of return spring 56. The stressexerted by said spring predominates over that produced by spring 51acting on rod 50 when connected kinematically, through rocking member53, with rod 50.

The engagement between pickup arm 16 and nose 54a produces a clockwiserocking of lever 54 and the release of lever 55 the shorter arm of whichengages, under the action of the spring 56, and 53d of rocking member53. The spring 56 acts on rocking member 53 through lever 55 and itsaction is sufficient for said rocking member to rock clockwise againstthe action of spring 51 on rod 50 by an amount sufficient for pin 50bcarried by rod 50, shifted by rocking member 53, to engage the abutment52a of the cam-shaped pulley 52; worm Z is therefore driven again at theend of the playing of one surface of the selected record.

Cam 26 continues revolving and returns the sliders 33, 34 into theirright-hand positions as seen in FIGURE 2. The slider 34 urges the lever55 back into its cocked position against the action of their spring 56,but this does not produce a disconnection since the roller on the arm53c canont engage the notch 26a of the cam so that the clutch remainslocked in its operative condition.

The playing of a record may also be interrupted by exerting a horizontaloutward movement on a draw member 57 whereby a lever 58 is caused torock and to there by shift clockwise lever 54 through engagement withits lower end 54c.

In a modification illustrated in FIGURE 5, cam 26 or the shaft 19 isdriven selectively by the plate 24 through the agency of a clutchincluding two helical springs 60, 61 secured at one end to the plate 24.

As illustarted, plate 24 is provided on each of its transverse surfaceswith a cylindrical projection 24', 24" respectively, extending inalignment with a corresponding projection 26' on the upper surface ofthe cam 26 and of a bearing 19' on the shaft 19 respectively. The latteris further more provided at its upper end with a head 19" engaged by thespring 60. The motor 14 is a motor the direction of rotation of whichmay be reversed by switching its stator windings, as provided by adouble contact switch 57.

The springs 60, 61 are wound in opposite directions in a manner suchthat when the motor revolves in a predetermined direction, the plate 24drives cam 26 by tightening spring 61 round the projections 26, 24-"whereas, when the motor revolves in the opposite direction, said platedrives shaft 19 by a clamping of spring 69 round projection 24' andbearing 19. It is therefore sufficient to make nose 23a control switch57 in a manner such that motor 14 revolves in a predetermined directionas long as cam 26 is locked while the direction of rotation of the motoris reversed, as soon as nose 2% enters a port 6a in angle bar 6, so asto allow cam 26 to rotate.

My invention is obviously not limited to what has been described hereinand illustrated and it covers all the embodiments falling within thescope of the accompanying claims and, in particular, it should beunderstood that the carriage of the record player may be replaced by aplate adapted to rotate inside an annular magazine and carrying all theparts described, said plate being rigidly secured directly to the shaft19 while the rack 17 and the pinion 18 are cut out.

What is claimed is:

1. Automatic record player comprising:

(a) at least one record magazine,

(b) at least one pickup arm, mounted on a support and including at leastone pickup cartridge,

(c) drive means for rotating a record to be played,

(d) shifting means for shifting said pickup arm from a rest position torecord-reading pOSitlOn,

(e) selection means for selecting and locating a predetermined recordlocated in said magazine,

(f) lifting means for lifting and placing said record into engagementwith said drive means, said lifting means being also operable to removesaid record from engagement with said drive means,

(g) moving means causing relative movements of said magazine and saidsupport such that at the end of said movement said lifting means be in aposition to engage said record,

(h) said selection means comprising two superposed rows of keys carriedby one of the two elements consisting of said magazine and said support,each key of the first of said rows corresponding to the first side of arecord and each key of the second row corresponding to the second sideof the record of a predetermined key of said first row, said keys beingadapted to select a desired record and the desired side thereof,

(i) said selection means additionally comprising two feeler leverssecured to the other of said elements consisting of said magazine andsaid support, one of said feeler levers extending to the level of saidfirst row of keys, the other of said feeler levers extending to thelevel of said second row,

(j) one of said feeler levers, during said relative move ment of saidmagazine and said support, actuating locking means by means of a contactwith a key into operative position, without interfering with the otherfeeler lever, said locking means locking said magazine and said supportat a predetermined position determined by the position of said key intoope ative position such that said lifting means can reach thecorresponding record in said magazine,

(k) the other feeler lever causing while in rocking motion due to acontact with an operative key operated from the other row of keys,

(1) rocking of said first feeler lever similar to the rocking motioncaused by the contact of said first feeler lever with the key of saidfirst row, and

(2) actuation of a device moving said pickup arm such that the cartridgeis in a position to read the second side of the predetermined record,said record player characterized in that the position of said key andthe position of said feeler levers intended to mutually cooperate are ina shape symmetrical relative to a plane perpendicular to the directionof said relative movement of said magazine and said support such thatrocking motion of said feeler levers is identical whether said movementis in one direction or in the opposite direction.

2. A record player as defined in claim 1, wherein said keys consist ofsliding rods adapted to be placed in two axial positions at least one ofsaid positions corresponding to the selection of the side of the recordto be played.

3. A record player as claimed in claim 1, wherein said feeler levers areadapted to pivot about axis against the action of springs, said axisextending perpendicular to the direction of slide motion of said keysand parallel to the direction of said relative movement of said magazincand said support, the feeling ends of said feeler levers forming adihedron having a ridge lying in the plane of the rocking motion of eachfeeler lever and substantially allowing said slide motion of said keysto take place when said feeler levers are in inoperative position, andeach feeler lever has on its side facing the other feeler lever a lug,said lugs having ends facing one another and one of said lugs contactingthe other of said lugs during rocking motion of the feeler levercarrying the first mentioned lug so as to urge the other feeler leverinto angular movement in a direction opposite to the direction of saidrocking motion of said first feeler lever.

4. A record player as defined in claim 3, wherein the height of said lugof said other feeler lever is greater than the height of the lug of thefirst feeler lever so that the amplitude of the rocking motion of saidfirst feeler lever due to the rocking motion of the second feeler leveris larger than the rocking motion of the first feeler lever caused bythe contact of the feeling end thereof with one of said keys, inoperative position.

5. Record player as defined in claim 4, wherein said locking means issecured to said magazine or said support, whichever is the mobileelement, and comprises:

(a) a bar, return means urging said bar into engagement with a fixedportion of said record player,

(in) a slider carrying a collapsible stop for actuating said bar, saidcollapsible stop preventing said locking and being adapted to collapseunder the action of said selection means each time said mobile elementsought to be locked,

(c) a resilient element producing a force larger than, and in oppositedirection to the force produced by said return means,

(d) a kinematic lock rigidly secured to said bar and capable ofengagement with a cam driving said slider to rock said cam under theaction of said resilient element against said return means and at apredetermined angular position of said cam, said slider urging saidcollapsible stop into engagement with said bar when said collapsiblestop is not under the action of said selection means, said slidershifting said stop against the action of said return means so as to freesaid mobile element and to engage said kinematic lock with said cam whensaid cam is in said angular position,

(e) a clutch coupling motor means to said cam when said bar locks saidmobile element or to said moving means moving said mobile element whensaid cam is locked.

6. A record player as defined in claim 5, wherein said collapsible stopis formed by a portion of one of said feeler levers, said bar carrying arod adapted to slide substantially along an extension of said feelerlever, said resilient element being a spring wound around said rodbetween a stop member on said rod and a portion of said bar.

7. A record player as claimed in claim 6, wherein each feeler lever isprovided with a lug adapted to urge the operated keys into inoperativeposition When said mobile element is locked onto the fixed element andduring movement of said slider from a first to a second limit position.

8. A record player as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first feelerlever, when rocked by the other fecler lever takes a position such thatsaid lug does not engage said operated key facing said lug duringmovement of said slider from its first to its second position.

9. A record player as defined in claim 8, wherein said second feelerlever actuates a second rod urged by a return spring and adapted tocause contact between said slider and a third rod when said feeler leveris in fully locked position, said second rod causing during movement ofsaid slider from its first to its second position, displacement of saidpickup arm carrying said pickup cartridge for reading the second side ofsaid predetermined record.

It). An automatic record player comprising:

(a) at least one record magazine,

(b) at least one pickup arm mounted on a support and carrying at leastone pickup cartridge,

(c) selection means for selecting and locating a predetermined record inthe magazine,

(d) lifting means adapted to place said predetermined record intoengagement with a device affecting rotation of said record and intoregistry with said pickup cartridge and to return said record into saidmagazine,

(c) drive means for rotating said record,

(f) moving means causing relative movements of said magazine and saidsupport such that said predetermined record registers with said liftingmeans at the end of said relative movement, and

(g) shifting means for shifting said pickup arm from a rest position toa second position in which said pickup cartridge engages the sound trackof said predetermined record, said shifting means being also operativeto shift said pickup arm from said second position to said restposition, wherein said lifting and shifting means are operated by asingle cam having a groove surrounding its axis of rotation and by meansof which groove two sliders are operated, one controlling movement ofsaid pickup arm and the other controlling the lifting and shiftingmotions, characterized in that said cam has a notch on its edge in whichtwo opposite locking members may engage alternately, said lockingmembers providing locking of said cam each time said cam completes anangular displacement of and simultaneously providing actuation of twoclutch devices which are adapted to interrupt the coupling between saidcam and its motor means in either of the two rocking positions of saidcam.

lll. A record player as defined in claim It), wherein said selectionmeans frees the first of said opposite locking members when saidpredetermined record is localized and when the slider operated by saidcam causes displacement of said locking member towards its lockingposition and causes said locking member to return to its own lockingposition, the movement of the second of said locking members intolocking; interengagement with said notch, being operated by means ofresilient means urging said second locking device in contact with theedge of said cam, the return movement of said second locking member toits position of rest being controlled by the pickup arm when said pickuparm is in an angular position in which the tip of the pickup cartridgeengages the last portion of the sound track of said predeterminedrecord.

112. A record player as defined in claim 10, wherein said locking meansoperated by said locking member consists of a differential driven bysaid motor means and causing said relative movements of said support andsaid magazine and movement of said cam, said relative movement takingplace as soon as said cam becomes angularly locked.

13. A record player as defined in claim 10, wherein said locking meansoperated by said locking member consists of a toothed wheel mounted on ashaft and driven by said motor means and causing said relative movement,and of at least two springs, one extending between a portion of saidwheel and a portion of the shaft on which said wheel is mounted, theturns of wire of each of said springs being wound in opposite directionswith reference to the other spring such that when the toothed wheelrotates in a first direction, the cam is caused to rotate as wellwhereas when the toothed wheel rotates in the opposite direction saidshaft only is rotated, and wherein a reversing switch is provided forcontroiiing change in the direction of rotation of said motor means,this switch being operated by the first of said locking members.

14. A record player according to claim 1%, wherein said locking means iscontrolled by the second of said opposite locking members and coupleswith a second wheel constantly rotated by said motor means by means of athird Wheel driving said locking means.

15. An automatic record player comprising at least one record magazine,at least one pickup arm connected to a support and carrying at least onepickup cartridge, selection means for locating a predetermined recordplaced in said record magazine, lifting means for placing saidpredetermined record in registry with said pickup cartridge and toreplace it into said record magazine, moving means for saidpredetermined record, second moving means operative to cause a relativemovement between said record magazine and said support such that saidpredetermined record registers with said lifting means at the end ofsaid relative movement, said second moving means being such that saidrelative movement between said record magazine and said support andmovements of said pickup arm, as well as control of said lifting meansbe effected by a single cam, a difierential operated by means of motormeans and comprising two wheels in engagement with at least a singleidler wheel, one of said wheels being secured to a shaft causing saidrelative movement between said record maga zine and said support, theother of said wheels being coupled to said cam, a double locking devicecapable to angularly lock either of said two wheels, such that Wheneverone of said wheels is locked the other is driven by said motor means.

16. A record player as defined in claim 15, wherein there are two idlerwheels mounted on separate shafts and said two wheels are coaxial andsaid shaft is loosely mounted into a sleeve around which is rotatablymounted a plate forming one element of said differential by means ofwhich said differential is coupled to said motor means,

17. A record player as defined in claim 16, wherein said plate istoothed and is actuated by said motor means by means of a worm.

18. A record player as defined in claim 16, wherein said other wheel isrigidly secured to said cam.

19. A record player as defined in claim 16, wherein said differential isdisposed onto a carriage forming said support and wherein said shaftcarries a pinion meshing with a rack fixed to the casing of said recordplayer, such that rotation of said pinion causes said carriage to move.

20. A record player as defined in claim 15, wherein said double lockingdevice consists of a slider linked to said support and capable of radialdisplacements with respect to said cam, said slider including twolocking lugs one of which engageable under the action of resilient meansin a first position of said slider with a notch on the edge of said camthereby angularly locking said cam and the second of said lugs capableof engagement, under the action of further resilient means and when saidslider is located in a second limit position, with an aperture in saidmagazine, characteristic of the predetermined record, movement of saidslider being caused (1) by said selection means, and (2) by a deviceoperated by said cam.

21. An automatic record player comprising a record magazine, recordplaying means, means to shift said magazine relative to said recordplaying means along a straight Cit path, a rack secured to one of saidrecord magazine and said record playing means and fixed againsttranslation along said path, said rack including two toothed straightportions parallel to the direction of said relative movement, and twocurved portions connecting the ends of said straight portions, the otherof said record magazine and record playing means carrying a drivingpinion, and means maintaining said driving pinion in engagement withsaid rack in any position of said record magazine with res set to saidrecord playing means, said rack being mounted for motion transverse toits straight portions each time said driving pinion leaves one of saidstraight portions and engages one of said curved portions.

22.. A record player as defined in claim 21, wherein said rack issecured to at least one movable arm, said movable arm being connected toa shaft parallel to said straight path.

23. A record player as defined in claim 21, wherein said record magazineis secured to a casing of said record player, and said rack is connectedto said casing, the player further including means for lifting a recordto and from playing position, a carriage, a shaft connected to saidcarriage and to which said driving pinion is secured, motor means fordriving said pinion, control means for said lifting device, said motormeans and said record playing means connected to said shaft.

2 A record player as defined in claim 21, wherein there is an openingformed between said straight portions, and the teeth of said rackproject towards the interior of said opening formed, said means urgingsaid driving pinions into engagement with said rack comprises (1) astraight flange disposed in said opening and having sides equally spacedfrom said straight portions and ends equally spaced from said curvedportions and (2) a nose projecting from the center of said drivingpinions and constantly urged against either one of said sides of saidflange, depending upon the position of said driving pinion with respectto said rack.

25. An automatic record player comprising a record magazine at least onepickup arm connected to a support and carrying at least one pickupcartridge, selection means for locating a predetermined record in saidrecord magazine, lifting means to lead said predetermined record inregistry with said pickup cartridge and to return said record to saidmagazine, drive means for rotating said record, moving means to cause arelative movement between said record magazine and said support suchthat said predetermined record be in registry with said lifting means atthe end of said relative movement, having a single motor causing saidrelative movement, operating said lifting means and rotating said recordand having a clutching device, said clutching device interruptingcoupling between (1) said motor and said lifting means and (2) betweensaid motor and said moving means when the predetermined record has beenlocalized and brought into engagement with said pickup cartridge bymeans of said lifting means.

26. A record player as defined in claim 25, wherein said clutchingdevice comprises a kinematic element secured to said motor and themember operative to cause said relative movement and capable ofengagement with said kinematic element, said kinematic element and saidmember consisting of two coaxial discs mounted on a shaft, a third discis loosely journaled to the shaft of said two discs between said twodiscs, said third disc including a pin engaging both of said two discswhen said clutching device is engaged, said pin leaving one of said twodiscs when said clutching device is disengaged.

27. A record player as defined in claim 26, wherein the first of saidtwo discs is associated with a worm whereas the third disc is secured tothe end of the rod mounted within a longitudinal bore of said worm, theother end of said rod being urged: (1) by a spring urging said rod andthe third disc in a position corresponding to the disengaged position ofsaid clutching device and (2) by a 13 rocking lever maintaining said rodand the third disc in a position corresponding to the engaged positionof said clutching device against the action of said last mentionedspring when no record is playing.

28. A record player as defined in claim 25, having means operating saidclutching device at least as soon as the reading of a record is ended soas to effect coupling between said motor and said lifting and said movinmeans.

29. A record player as defined in claim 28, having rocking means forsaid rocking lever so as to disengage said clutching device as soon as arecord is into reading position, and further means returning saidrocking lever into its first position at the end of said record reading.

30. A record player as defined in claim 29, wherein said couplingbetween said motor and said lifting and moving means is controlled by arotating cam formed by a disc having a notch on its edge, characterizedin that said rocking lever has three arms, one of which is operated bysaid rod, the second of which is in contact with the edge of the lastmentioned disc and is capable of engagement with said notch by rockingof said lever under the action of said spring when said disc is in apredetermined angular position and therefore the clutching device isdisengaged, and the third of said arms being used to return said rockinglever into the position wherein said clutching device is engaged.

31. A record player as defined in claim 39, wherein said disc causesmovement of a slider during at least a portion of the rotation of saiddisc and has a springactuated rocker member, said rocker having one ofits ends connected to said slider when said slider is moving in adirection tensioning said last mentioned spring, whereas the other endof said rocker is capable to engage the third arm of said rocking leverwhen the second arm of said rocking lever is in engagement with saidnotch of said disc and said rocker being subjected only to the action ofsaid last mentioned spring.

32. A record player as defined in claim 31, having a locking leveradapted to engage a portion of said rocker when said rocker has beenrocked by said slider and the last mentioned spring is under tension,this locking lever maintaining the rocker in this position and having aprojection capable of engagement with an end of said pickup arm oppositeto the pickup cartridge and, when this pickup arm is in an angularposition corresponding to the end of the reading of the record, theengagement of said pickup arm and the projection of said locking levercausing an angular displacement of said locking lever suflicient to freethe end of said rocker that is in engagcment with said locking lever.

33. An automatic record player comprising at least one record magazine,at least one pickup arm rockably secured to a support and carrying atleast one pickup cartridge, selection means for locating a predeterminedrecord in said magazine, lifting means for placing this record inregistry with said pickup cartridge and to return said record into saidrecord magazine, drive means for rotating said record, moving meanscausing a relative movement of said record magazine and said supportsuch that said predetermined record registers with said lifting means atthe end of said relative movement, wherein said selection meanscomprises at least two superposed rows of keys extending from saidrecord magazine or said support whichever does not move during saidrelative movement, the number of keys in one row corresponding at leastto the number of records within said record magazinc and each key of thefirst row being intended to select the first side of the predeterminedrecord whereas the keys of the other row are for the other side of thepredetermined record, the keys of one of said rows being longer than theother keys.

34. A record player as defined in claim 33, wherein the keys of thelower row are longer than the keys of the upper row.

35. A record player as defined in claim 34, wherein each set of one keyin a first row and a second key in the second row corresponding to thesame record are superimposed.

36. A record player as defined in claim 34, wherein each of said keys issecured to one end of a sliding member capable to operate, by means ofits other end, said selection means when said sliding member isdepressed.

37. A record player as defined in claim 33, wherein each of said keyshave an annular groove for receiving the finger of the operator of therecord player.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1958 Johnson 274--10 7/1960Staar 274-l0

